Each little flower that opens,
each little snake that poisons,

@maddie

Karel didn't often do his own dirty work, he had people who he got to do it for him. Granted, this wasn't exactly dirty work, it was related to his agreements. He'd had a couple requests related to magical creatures and animals in general as of late, alarmingly so; he had even just finished making a deal with someone and he was left studying the caged creatures. Karel hadn't thought much about it when a Gryffindor had asked for his help, he began to question things though when they'd arranged to meet him in this classroom and it had become even more questionable when he'd directed Karel to a cage that had a pair of Moke's in it. The wizard hadn't be sure at first as to why, but as they spoke. He was asked to somehow bring a couple of eggs for the Gryffindor to keep. Karel had agreed and he had a partner who knew their way around animals but right now the Slytherin was just... observing the creatures. He hadn't questioned why the lion had wanted something like this, but he had his theories. It wasn't any of Karel's business and he wasn't going to pry, he was just going to make the necessary arrangements to fulfill the request.

He hummed thoughtfully as he examined the vivarium; the Moke's weren't overly interesting, they just sat and stared at him, but Karel wanted to be thorough in his examinations; if there was even an inkling that providing his client with Moke eggs could be dangerous and could very well cause trouble for Karel, he wouldn't go through with it. He couldn't afford anyone putting roadblocks in the way of his business when it was starting out and starting to grow. That wasn't to say Karel didn't like to take risks, he would do what was necessary but some risks just weren't worth it. The fact that the Moke's were here for lessons caused very little worry for Karel, that meant that they weren't too dangerous; of course there were dangerous beasts around the school, but all that could be a risk were shown outside. These two were inside, and looked like a bearded dragon, muggles had them in the house as pets, muggles! Clearly these would be simple enough to deal with?

Karel moved towards the vivarium and tapped the the door of it before sliding the glass back and picking one up. He held it in his hands and the creature just sat there, still staring blankly at him except it's tongue protruded a little, wanting to be fed, Karel assumed. The brunette held the creature at eye level and ran his finger down its back, he knew they were highly sought after for bags and accessories and he couldn't quite see the appeal, sure it made things you bagged extra secure, but it didn't exact feel nice to the touch; the scales were rough and Karel would never dream of carrying something like that around, it felt awful but different people liked different things, who was he to question it? "I sincerely hope you are a breeding pair." He murmured to the creature; Karel wasn't thrilled at the idea of having to hunt for the eggs out of school, if it was easy enough for them to get and right under his nose. He could use another student to snag the eggs for him as payment for whatever they'd requested and if whoever it was, was smart they would know this was probably a small price to pay; a few broken rules. It was something to think about.

He heard someone walking past the door, but he continued to look at the Moke and started to put it back in the vivarium, hopefully whoever it was would just keep walking and leave him be. He wasn't feel chatty right now, he wanted to get back to the common room and to a certain witch that would be there.

### words

@ karel

outfit : uniform

All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful

    Maddie didn't have Care of Magical Creatures yet, she was only a second year, but she had already decided that she wanted nothing to do with it. Did she like animals? Of course. She was fond of them and she wanted to have her own pet if she were allowed, but that didn't mean that she wanted to learn how to handle them all the time. She wanted a cat, and anything else was far too dirty. There was a reason she didn't enjoy herbology, she didn't like getting dirt under her fingernails for something that she could have house elves do. There were plenty of ladies that did all these natural things but she was not one of them. That, however, did not mean that she wasn't curious. She read about magical creatures, she took out books from the library. Yes, it was interesting, but she had a theoretical interest in them so she didn't think that she would be picking the elective next year. Definitely Ancient Runes, to go with aunt Mel, and perhaps Arithmancy. Perhaps not. She'd ask Ed about the classes, he was bound to remember a thing or two. It was best to know what she was getting into. Making an educated guess and all that.
    She hadn't been going to the CoMC classroom, not at all. She'd been wandering around, with her books in hand, looking for an empty classroom to study in. Several of her classmates were in the common room and it was very loud right now, she hated the library because it was far too crowded, and if she went to any of her regular haunts Dio would find her and convince her to stop working. But she had homework to do for tomorrow so she couldn't very well not do it. The second floor occasionally emptied out, since if people didn't have classes then there was absolutely no reason to be there. She'd been hoping a teacher would've left a classroom open, otherwise she'd just end up going to aunt Mel's office and asking her to unlock a random classroom for her to work in. There was, however, an open door right down the hallway, so she made her way there. Expecting to find it empty, she had to squash down her disappointment when she saw someone inside. Still, it was only one person, right? It was also an older Slytherin, so the chances were that she would know them. At the very least, through Jamie, who was a sixth year. Some older snakes picked on the younger sometimes but her older brother had taken care of that for her. Of course. So, politely, she rapped her knuckles on the heavy wooden door.
    "Hi, sorry to bother you. Is it okay if I sit in here? I was looking for a classroom to study in." If it was only one person then chances were they wouldn't bother each other all that much. From what she could see of his face- oh, he looked familiar. Probably a pureblood, they could be in the same circles. Maybe. "I'm Madeline Rosier. It's nice to meet you."

x

Karel was already masterminding how to approach things, the Moke seemed docile enough that he could probably take one or two by himself, but he didn’t want to risk getting caught. If someone else did what he needed them to do and got caught then tried to point the finger at him, he could explain it away easily. His smooth talking was very helpful when it came to getting him out of trouble. He knew of someone who he could convince to help him if he really wanted to and if the conversations he’d overheard were true. The boy, a Ravenclaw prefect, would come to him sooner rather than later. It was unfortunate how predictable some people were, but when a person wanted something, was longing for it. They were always the easiest to crack and Karel knew exactly how to encourage the crack to happen.

He hummed thoughtfully as he put the Moke back into the vivarium and slid it shut, just as a knock on the door came. Karel glanced over his shoulder in confusion but his expression relaxed a little when he saw a young girl, a second year if he remembered rightly; stood in the doorway. He arched a brow when she spoke to him and offered her a small smile, dipping his head in a nod. ”You don’t need to ask, I was leaving soon.” He replied, turning back to the Vivarium and strolling up to the teacher’s desk where a copy of Fantastic Beasts was lay. He picked it up easily and flipped to the contents, scanning for the page on Moke’s and starting to flick through the book, looking for the right page as he strolled back to the Vivarium.

Karel scanned over the information on Moke’s focusing on gestation periods for them when he heard the girl speak again, introducing herself this time it seemed. ”Karel Higgs, pleasure.” He replied, not looking up from what he was reading but addressing her politely. The section on Moke’s didn’t provide him with much attention and Karel scowled, slightly frustrated at hitting a blank. He’d have to speak to the Professor, pretend to be interested in the blasted creature. That was clearly the next step for him.

Finally, the wizard shut the book and returned the book to the desk turning, at last, to Madeline, he knew of the Rosier’s, they were respected and his mother and Uncle knew of them, Karel didn’t really care much for the personal relationships his family had with this girls family. What he did care about though was if he got to know the girl, her presence may come in handy at some point. He may as well make a start, he’d just have to act like he was interested in her. ”What are you doing in here? Aren’t you too young to study Care of Magical Creatures?” He asked politely, sitting on the edge of the Professor’s desk and looking Madeline over. His family would kill him if he was rude to her. He was always taught to respect people like them.